Piano Keys and Sitar Strings
by QueenOfTheYaoi
Summary: Roxas, Zexion, and Demyx all have the day off.  They end up spending it in Demyx's room.  Demyx leaves to deal with a broken string, leaving Roxas and Zexion alone, with a room full of instruments, one in particular which Zexion can play.


Roxas sighed contently as he listened to Demyx play a calm melody on his sitar. Him and Zexion were in Demyx's room. All three had gotten the day off today, and none of them really knew what to do with it. Demyx said he was going to write some music and asked if they'd help. They said yes, and here they were. The Nocturne's room wasn't at all like they'd expected. First of all, it was totally clean. It was also filled with every strings instrument known to mankind. Even a black baby grand piano. And apparently, he could play most of them with ease. The dirty blonde ended his song and smiled.

"How was that one?" Zexion replayed the song in his head.

"It has a soft tempo. Almost like a lullaby."

"Yeah, it was really pretty, Demyx."

"Thanks." Demyx worked feverishly to record the notes he'd played while they were still in his mind. Just as soon as he'd finished writing one, another one popped into his head. He placed his hands on his sitar again. "Okay, this one has a faster pace." He glided his fingers over the sitar again, humming along with the melody. Less than two minutes into the song…

_plink!_

…the two thinnest strings snap. Everyone stares at the sitar with mixed expressions. Zexion doesn't show any intrest whatsoever. Roxas looked confused as to how the strings had broken. Demyx looked like he was about to cry. But he doesn't, instead standing up and sighing.

"Well, that sucks. You guys wait here, I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Both boys nodded and Demyx left the room. They could hear gentle sobs getting quieter. Roxas sighed.

"Poor Demyx." Zexion stood up and started walking around the room.

"He'll survive. It's happened before. He knows how to fix it." He idly plucks a string on the harp propped up against the wall.

"But he seemed torn up about it."

"As he always is. He's had the thing for a long time. I don't understand him and his fascination with musical instruments…" He looked at the cello, wondering when the hell Demyx had learned all these instruments. He was only sixteen when his heart was taken. Surely that wasn't enough time to learn all these…was it? Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you say that you used to play an instrument?" Zexion nodded.

"I did. Piano."

"Can you play for me?" Zexion's eyebrow(s?) arched a bit. That was an unexpected request. On the other hand, he had learned that Roxas made a lot of unexpected requests. And it was an easier request than the maid outfit. They did have a piano at their disposal, after all.

"Well…I suppose I could. But I'm not sure what I remember. It's been years…" Roxas smiled happily.

"S'okay, just play something you do remember."

"Hmm…" He sat on the piano bench, Roxas standing behind him. He stared intently at the keys and probed his mind for memories of old songs he had learned how to play. "There are a few I remember…" He closed his eyes and positioned his fingers on the appropriate keys. He pressed them in the right order, making the piano background of Listen to Your Heart fill the room. Roxas just stared, awestruck. It was a pretty long song. When the piano notes started repeating themselves, about a minute or so into the song, Zexion stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at the blonde. "How was that?"

"…Beautiful. And soothing."

"Not bad for someone who hasn't practiced in decades, was it?"

"Not at all. Can you teach me?"

"_Teach you_?"

"Yeah, teach me! Y'know, show me how to play pretty songs like that one."

"…I don't see why not. Here, sit." Zexion stood, Roxas taking his place. "The song I did requires two hands, so let's start with a simpler set. Put your thumb on this one…your index, middle, and ring fingers on these three black ones…and your pinky on this one." Zexion said, pointing to the keys as he went. Roxas placed his fingers on the keys.

"Like this?"

"Yes, like that." Zexion put his fingers on the same notes in a lower key. "Now watch my fingers." He pressed the keys, playing the piano background of In The End. He repeated it four times before motioning for Roxas to try. It seemed that the blonde had gotten the note order down for the most part, but was rushing it. Zexion shook his head. "Stop." Roxas looked at the bluenette.

"Did I do it wrong?"

"You've gotten the notes correct, which surprises me honestly considering I only played it four times, but the pace you've set is wrong." The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You aren't playing the pauses, and you're rushing through the note cycle." Roxas tried again, but was now pressing the keys too slowly. Zexion sighed. "Relax your hand."

"Okay." The blonde relaxed, his palm lowering until it was nearly resting on the keys. Zexion moved his hand over Roxas's, lining up his fingers with the blonde's. "Move with me." He pressed on Roxas's fingers, which made Roxas press the keys. He repeated it a few times, this time using the correct tempo. He removed his fingers and was pleased to see that the shorter's fingers were still moving. He nearly smiled. Roxas was playing correctly. Roxas must've realized it, too. He grinned up at Zexion. Once the set of four was over, he removed his fingers and looked at the bluenette again.

"How was _that_?" He said, grinning smugly. Zexion rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Not bad, for a beginner." The grin became an appreciative smile.

"I like it better when you play, though. Can you play more for me?" Zexion nodded.

"Of course." Roxas stood and Zexion sat again, this time moving over and motioning for the blonde to sit with him. He did, and just as Zexion was about to play, Demyx came back.

"Fixed it!" He looked at the two boys and raised an eyebrow. "You two play piano?" They looked at each other and Roxas snickered.

"I do now, but Zexion is the one who's really good at it." Zexion cleared his throat and tried not to blush in embarrassment. Demyx smiled.

"I wanna hear it!" Zexion sighed and turned back around, this time playing not only the piano part, but a piano version of the violin part of Comatose. Demyx's face lit up. "Hey, I know that one!" His sitar vanished in a flurry of bubbles. He instead picked up an electric guitar and played the guitar part of the song. It would be cool if he could sing the words. And he would, if he did. But since he doesn't…eh, nothing he can do. The song was lovely and ended all too soon. Roxas yawned, as did the other two. Demyx smiled.

"Y'know, that was kinda fun! We should do it again the next time we get time off." Zexion nodded.

"Yes, we should." Roxas grinned happily.

"And you two will teach me how to play some more?" They both nod. Roxas yawns again and lays on one of Demyx's sofas. "Good, because I wanna learn how to play really well." Zexion shot the blonde a questoning look.

"Why?"

"So I can play for you two, instead of you playing for me." Demyx smiles and huggles Roxas.

"Aww Roxas, that's so noble of you!" Roxas coughed at the force of the hug, needing air. Demyx eventually let go, leaving a squished Roxas. He laid back down one of the sofas, while Demyx laid in his bed and Zexion laid in the other sofa. All three yawned in unison and let their eyes slipped shut. Roxas smiled.

"Y'know, I'm starting to like vacation days."


End file.
